Song of the Day: Mirror, Mirror (by Blind Guardian)

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Arleigh

The latest “Song of the Day” comes courtesy of one of my favorite bands. Anyone who has been following this site and this recurring feature pretty much knows I speak of the awesome epicness of the German power metal band Blind Guardian. The song from their expansive discography I’ve chosen this time around is the song “Mirror, Mirror”.

This song combines two every epic things together: Power Metal + J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion = epic awesomeness.

The song itself and it’s lyrics tell of Turgon, King of the Noldor and second son of Fingolfin, brother to Fingon, Aredhel and Argon who builds the famed city of Gondolin during the First Age of Middle-Earth. The city was to be a safe haven for Turgon’s people who were in the midst of an age long war against the fallen Valar, Morgoth. It’s a song that tells of Turgon’s decision to build the city with assistance from the Valar and Lord of Water, Ulmo.

It speaks of the long road and desperation of Turgon to try and save the Noldor from the armies of Morgoth. It’s a tragic tale that hints at the ultimate fate of Turgon and Gondolin. A dream that ultimately will end in the ultimate betrayal from within.

I know that there are people who still thinks that metal is all about fast, loud, discordant guitar playing backed up by screaming and guttural sounds that pass off as singing, but Blind Guardian should dismiss such notion. There’s definitely nothing guttural about this song.

Mirror, Mirror

Far, far beyond the island
We dwelt in shades of twilight
Through dread and weary days
Through grief and endless pain

It lies unknown
The land of mine
A hidden gate
To save us from the shadow fall
The lord of water spoke
In the silence
Words of wisdom
I’ve seen the end of all
Be aware the storm gets closer

Mirror Mirror on the wall
True hope lies beyond the coast
You’re a damned kind can’t you see
That the winds will change
Mirror Mirror on the wall
True hope lies beyond the coast
You’re a damned kind can’t you see
That tomorrows bears insanity

Gone’s the wisdom
Of a thousand years
A world in fire and chains and fear
Leads me to a place so far
Deep down it lies my secret vision
I better keep it safe

Shall I leave my friends alone
Hidden in my twilight hall
(I) know the world is lost in fire
Sure there is no way to turn it
Back to the old days
Of bliss and cheerful laughter
We’re lost in barren lands
Caught in the running flames
Alone
How shall we leave the lost road
Time’s getting short so follow me
A leader’s task so clearly
To find a path out of the dark

Even though
The storm calmed down
The bitter end
Is just a matter of time

Shall we dare the dragon
Merciless he’s poisoning our hearts
Our hearts

How shall we leave the lost road
Time’s getting short so follow me
A leader’s task so clearly
To find a path out of the dark

Trailer: Man of Steel (3rd Official)

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Arleigh

We’re now just two months away from one of this year’s biggest and most-anticipated films. It’s also one of the biggest gamble for Warner Bros. Pictures in light of the success that Marvel/Disney had with their Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Man of Steel looks to reboot that Superman film franchise after the lackluster Superman Returns of a few years back. Gone are Bryan Singer and in comes Zack Snyder in the director’s chair with Christopher Nolan (himself reviving the Batman franchise from the depths) overlording over it all. It’s a recipe that smells success, yet there’s still some nagging doubt about whether it’s going to rule the summer and become the stepping stone to what Warner Brothers hopes will be their return shot at Marvel/Disney: a Justice League film.

The first trailer for Man of Steel had quite the Malickesque look to it. From the subtle music in the background to existential narration about the nature of Superman. Then that was followed up a couple months later by a more action-packed trailer that had the hallmarks of Snyder as a visual artist of onscreen mayhem. Now we have a third trailer (hopefully a final one) that seems to be an amalgam of the first two that tries to explore the nature of Superman in regards to his adopted planet and then some action that shows Man of Steel won’t be a two and half hours of Zack Snyder channeling his inner Terence Malick.

Man of Steel is set for a June 14, 2013 release date.

Trailer: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Exclusive Teaser)

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Arleigh

The next installment in The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire, looks to return later this year with a new director taking over the reins. Gary Ross began the series as director of the first film and the film enjoyed massive success and very positive reception from the critics-at-large. So, it was surprising news that Ross wouldn’t be returning to continue the series and instead Lionsgate replacing him with Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I Am Legend).

This sequel brings back everyone who survived the first film and adds some new faces in the cast such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toby Jones, Jena Malone and Jeffrey Wright.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set for a November 22, 2013 release date.

AMV of the Day: Affective Schoolgirls (Nichijou)

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Arleigh

Latest “AMV of the Day” is one that dodges any way to describe it.

“Affective Schoolgirls” is an amalgam of two very different styles of entertainment. Two styles that I’ve learned to enjoy and appreciate through the years. What this video has done is combine something akin to peanut butter and jelly. The slapstick comedy and slice of life anime series Nichijou provides the peanut butter while the song “Snüffel” by Equilibrium provides the jelly.

If one who watches this video thinks they have no idea what’s going on then they’ve come to an understanding of what Nichijou as an anime is all about. It is an anime series about chaos distilled. What better way to point this out than to pair it up with some German symphonic black metal.

Anime: Nichijou

Song: “Snüffel” by Equilibrium

Creator: seriy

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: RadioAkshun (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Arleigh

The latest “AMV of the Day” pretty much was the hit of Sakura-Con 2013 a couple weeks back.

“RadioAkshun” by AMV creator IleaiAMVs won not just Best Technical, but won both Judges’ Best in Show and Audience Best in Show. It’s a rarity that an AMV in competition wins both Best in Show. AMV judges tend to vote on whats best in competition a little differently than the general public who watches the videos more as fans and not judging them on technical, artistic and creative merit. IleaiAMVs definitely earned her wins by creating one of the best AMVs I’ve seen.

Her work on this video uses scenes and sequences from the Rebuild of Evangelion anime films (three out with a fourth still forthcoming) and edits it around the Imagine Dragons song “Radioactive” and she does an excellent job. She doesn’t rely on flashy effects to make her video interesting and unique. She just does an impeccable job in timing the beats and tempo of the song with the appropriate scenes from the anime films. She also makes sure that she doesn’t just slapdash together the best scenes from the films. IleaiAMVs makes sure that each sequence fits not just the beats and tempo of the song but the lyrics as well. Best example of all three is early in the video when the character of Shinji takes a deep breath and then his Evangelion Unit exhales just as the singer in the song does the very same thing.

Enough talk…just go watch and enjoy.

Anime: Rebuild of Evangelion

Song: “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons

Creator: IleaiAMVs

Past AMVs of the Day

Scenes I Love: District 9

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Arleigh

With the release of the first trailer of Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to his District 9 I thought it was time to look back at one of my favorite scenes from that film. In fact, I rather think this scene was and, still is, one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history.

District 9 was such a great film with so many scenes and sequences that I consider favorites. Yet, it’s one particular scene that happened very quickly that it left many audiences staring at the big-screen (or small screen) wondering if they just saw what they just saw. I’m talking about a brief sequence during the climactic fight inside District 9 as Wikus tries to provide fire and cover for Chris Johnson and his young son to make it back to the alien shuttle and get back to the mothership.

Even now just watching the clip one really has to watch it more than once to truly appreciate the insanity that went into this action-packed final reel of the film. To put it simply, District 9 and Neill Blomkamp introduced the world not just to live-action mecha action but to the Spider Jerusalem-esque weapon I have simply dubbed: “The Pig Cannon”.

Watch and be amazed.

Trailer: Elysium (Official)

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Arleigh

It’s not often that a filmmaker makes such a major splash in the industry with their initial full-length film becoming not just a commercial success but one which gained widespread critical-acclaim. South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp is one such filmmaker. Initially tapped by Peter Jackson to direct the planned HALO film adaptation Blomkamp ended up doing District 9 (based off of his own short film Alive in Joburg).

The film became the sensation of San Diego Comic-Con 2009 which raised the hype for it’s inevitable release a month later. It’s now been 4 years since District 9 and we finally get a chance to see the first official trailer (a 10-minute film reel was shown to invited industry and press which showed a bit more of what the film will be about) for Blomkamp’s much awaited follow-up to his hit first film.

Elysium looks to continue Blomkamp’s attempt to bring social awareness to the scifi genre and do so with a mixture of real-world gritty realism and scifi fantasy. just looking at the trailer the space station Elysium where all the rich and privilege live in a paradise-setting look like an amalgam of the HALO ringworlds and the Citadel Station from Mass Effect.

It’s still months away, but just this teaser of a trailer has just raised Elysium to the top of my list for most awaited films of 2013. If it’s as good or better than District 9 then Blomkamp will cement himself as one of his generation’s best instead of a flash in the pan like so many of his contemporaries.

Elysium is set for a wide release date of August 9, 2013.

Trailer: Only God Forgives (Red Band)

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Arleigh

It looks like we the makings of a new Scorsese/DeNiro combination with Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling partnering up once again for another film after their critically-acclaimed neo-noir crime thriller with Drive.

Only God Forgives transplants Refn and Gosling away from the smog and seedy glamour of Los Angeles to the anything-goes locales of Thailand. Refn has described this follow-up to Drive as a modern Western set fully in the Far East with Gosling in the role of the cowboy antihero. The red band trailer once again shows that Refn will not be skimping on the beautifully shot violence and ramps up on the film’s look of heightened reality that made his previous film such a unique viewing experience.

There’s still no announced release date for Only God Forgives, but we will surely be on the look out for when it does finally come out.

The Daily Grindhouse: The Evil Dead

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Arleigh

This weekend we see the release of another horror remake. A remake of a film that’s considered a grindhouse and exploitation classic that’s sure to anger its legion of fans. Well, that anger seem to have dissipated as hype and buzz about the remake started to spread throughout the film blogging community with emphasis from those covering genre.

The Evil Dead by Sam Raimi still remains one of those horror films that horror fans love to talk about. It’s an exercise in the low-budget, guerrilla-style filmmaking that didn’t just introduce Raimi to the genre crowd, but also gave us all the greatest gift in the form of Bruce Campbell aka “God When He Takes Human Form”.

The franchise which grew around the original film may have morphed into classic horror slapstick, but nothing beats the original in being a truly brutal film. Yes, it’s a horror film that some find quite entertaining but it’s also a film that seems to relish in punishing its audience. There’s not much slapstick about this first film in the series and for some it continues to be one of the top horror films ever made.

So, for everyone who go out this weekend to watch the remake, Evil Dead, but who have never seen the original should go find a copy of the dvd (there’s like a bazillion different editions of it) and see why it remains a true horror and grindhouse classic.

5 New Pacific Rim Promo Posters

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Arleigh

It’s still just a little over 3 months before we get the premiere of Guillermo Del Toro’s return to the big-screen. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost 5 years since he last made a film (Hellboy 2: The Golden Army). His time wandering the world of Middle-Earth for three years and the last two developing his upcoming film and we now just have 3 months to wait for what could either be one of the biggest films of 2013 or a colossal failure.

Pacific Rim looks to introduce the well-worn and popular concept of the giant robot vs. kaiju from Japan to the rest of the world. Fans of this very Japanese pop-culture phenomena have been excited over this film since it was first brought up by Del Toro a couple years ago and more since then. Some have nitpicked that the trailers and teasers have made the film look like an offspring of the Michael Bay Transformers series, but then again all we’ve seen so far have been the robots. There’s still the surprise of how the kaiju will end up looking.

One thing I’ve learned about Guillermo Del Toro’s films have been that whether one likes them or not they’re never lazy affairs. He gives everything to the project and makes sure that his overall vision never get compromised by studio interference (one reason why he seems to back out of doing his dream project At the Mountain of Madness).

So, below are some of the latest promotional posters that show the five giant robots from five Pacific Rim nations who have volunteered to help fight the kaiju.

Striker Eureka from Australia